Category: Climate Change
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Migrating Birds May Save Plants From Climate Change
This mechanism of long-distance dispersion had not been confirmed until now, mainly due to the difficulty involved in sampling propagules transported by birds during their migratory flight. We were able to analyse it thanks to the hunting behaviour of Eleonora’s falcons. (Click on title for full story.)
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As Climate Changes, A New Threat To Forests: Our Coffee Lust
The future demand for coffee and the impacts of climate change have the potential to make coffee production a future driver of deforestation, which could threaten the last remaining intact tropical forests and the services they provide: carbon storage, provision of fresh water, and biodiversity that aids in food provision. (Click on title for full story.)
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Bears May Save Some Plants From Climate Change
Mountain climbing by bears following spring-to-summer plant phenology is likely the cause of this biased seed dispersal. These results suggest that spring- and summer-fruiting plants dispersed by animals may have high potential to escape global warming. Our results also indicate that the direction of vertical seed dispersal can be unexpectedly biased, and highlight the importance of considering seed dispersal direction to understand plant responses to past and future climate change. (Click on title for full story.)
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Predicting The Future Of Forests: Studying How Trees Survive Droughts
We’d like to have a crystal ball to see the future of forests. Right now we’ve got a very fuzzy and cracked ball that we’re slowly trying to polish and get a better view. (Click on title for full story.)
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Freezing Plants To Study Tundra Climate Change
Global warming means much warmer winters in the Arctic, with more rain and icing. Researchers are working to understand what that will do to plants that have evolved to overwinter under a thick blanket of snow. (Click on title for full story.)
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Climate Change Affects Maple Syrup
The wild card is some other events that reacts with climate change that wipes out trees and then they can’t come back because the climate has moved north. (Click on title for full story.)
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Good News! Trees More Adaptable To Climate Change Than First Thought
The bend-don’t-break adaptability of trees extends to handling climate change, according to a new study that says forests may be able to deal with hotter temperatures and contribute less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than scientists previously thought. (Click on title for full story.)
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Future Scientists Will Have New Way To Study Climate Change And Plants
Project Baseline will allow scientists to grow stored seeds side by side with those from plants that were left to evolve, in identical conditions: any differences can then be attributed to evolution. (Click on title for full story.)
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Climate Change Is Unraveling Ecosystems
The big takeaway is that species are on the move, and they’re moving at different rates, Which raises the concern that the ecosystems of California could be unraveling. (Click on title or image for full story.)
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Can Reforestation Really Slow Climate Change? That Depends.
Our results indicate that in large parts of Europe, a tree planting programme would offset the emissions but it would not cool the planet, especially not if the afforestation is done with conifers. (Click on title or image for full story.)